Edward G. Waters, MD; Professor Emeritus of Gynecology and Obstetrics (CMDNJ) Papers

Edward Gilmay Waters was born on January 14, 1898 in Derby, Connecticut. During his freshman year in high school, he became ill and was forced to spend the summer in bed, attended by a Dr. Willmot. This experience and the physician who treated him were the influencing factors in his decision to practice medicine.

Dr. Waters took the entrance examination for Yale University and was accepted, but deferred attending due to financial reasons. After a year of hard work he had saved enough money to attend Yale, receiving a PhD in 1919 and graduated from Yale University Medical 1918-1919, cum laude. Dr. Waters received his MD from Harvard Medical School in 1922. The next two years were spent at Brooklyn Hospital in a rotating internship, followed by a stay at Bridgeport Hospital as Resident Physician from 1923-1924. Dr. Waters said that he went to Bridgeport because of its excellent staff, which drew heavily from New York City. Home for the years between 1924 and 1927 was the Jersey City Hospital in Jersey City, NJ, where he served as Resident and Chief Resident Surgeon. Following the Jersey City Hospital, Dr. Waters returned to New York City for post-graduate education in surgery at New York University and Bellevue Medical College; while there, he was also Assistant in Surgery, 1927-1930.

On October 12, 1931 the Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital in Jersey City opened. Dr. Waters was named as Chief of Service of the Third Division, a position he retained until retiring in 1964. When he retired, he was named Emeritus Chief of Service. At the Margaret Hague, Dr. Waters developed the technique for Supravesical Extraperitoneal Cesarean Section, which bears his name. "Waters' technique was adopted widely throughout the United States, and in some centers it was preferred over the lowcervical operation in the absence of potential infection." [1]

Being of the first post-Flexner Report generation of physicians, Dr. Waters recognized the importance and need for certification within the profession. In 1933, he published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association advocating the "Certification of Specialists by the State Society."

Despite his skills and training as a surgeon in gynecology and obstetrics, Dr. Waters considered himself to have been a general practitioner. Having started his practice during the Great Depression, he relates, he felt it better to have ten patients of which only two could pay then two patients of which only one could.

Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry (SHCMD) opened in 1956, with Dr. Waters on the teaching staff as a Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics. In 1964 having reached the mandatory retirement age for SHCMD, he was named Professor Emeritus of Gynecology and Obstetrics. When the State of New Jersey acquired SHCMD in 1965 (see Archives collections RG/A SHCMD and RG/B New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry for details), Dr. Waters remained as Professor Emeritus. This occurred again in 1970 when Rutgers Medical School was merged with NJCMD to form the College of Medicineand Dentistry of New Jersey (see Archives collections RG/C CMDNJ and RG/G RMS). Thus, Dr. Waters was Professor Emeritus of three institutions.

A dedicated yachtsman, Dr. Waters was a member of several sailing organizations, including a term as Commodore of the Red Back Yacht Club. Other interests include membership in the Rotary Club and former Director of the Boy's Club of Hudson County, New Jersey.

In 1977 Dr. Waters retired from private practice. He was performing surgery up to one week before his retirement. He lived with his wife of over 50 years, Edna May Waters in Little Silver, New Jersey until his death on July 11, 1988.

[1] Speert, Harold, Obstetrics and Gynecology in America a History, Waverly Press, Inc.; Baltimore, Maryland 1980, pp. 156.